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Clarion faces wider Housing Ombudsman probe after second maladministration judgement

The Housing Ombudsman is planning a wider investigation into Clarion after the group was hit with its second severe maladministration finding in the space of three weeks.

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The Housing Ombudsman is planning a wider investigation into Clarion after the group was hit with its second severe maladministration finding in the space of three weeks #UKhousing

The ombudsman said it will conduct a “further investigation” into the UK’s biggest social landlord to establish whether there are “systemic failings” around its handling of the issues of damp, mould and pest infestation. 

Housing ombudsman Richard Blakeway said: “We are dealing with other cases about similar issues which may be indicative of repeated failure, which is why we will be carrying out a further investigation.” 

Clarion was also hit with a severe maladministration finding last month, prompting the government to say it will write to the 125,000-home landlord. It comes amid heightened scrutiny of conditions in social housing following ITV’s investigation into problems and imminent post-Grenfell legislation covering how landlords handle tenants’ complaints. 

Today the ombudsman published details of a case involving what it called “significant failings” from Clarion in dealing with a complaint from a resident with vulnerabilities. 


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The ombudsman’s investigation found “extensive delays in resolving water issues and leaks and repairs”.

It added: “There were instances where the resident lacked hot or cold water for days and months at a time, and there were overall delays of more than 15 months in dealing with a number of necessary repairs that were known to the landlord following reports of leaks in the resident’s home and outside her door, damp and mould and rodent issues.”

The resident, referred to as Ms K in the case report, reported mice in almost every room of her property at one point, the investigation found. 

“Delay in carrying out works and missed opportunities in assessing the issue contributed to the ongoing lack of resolution,” the ombudsman said. “The landlord apologised and offered compensation for the delay and the impact on the resident but there were unacknowledged failings in its response.”

The ombudsman also found issues with Clarion’s complaint-handling, communication and consideration of the resident’s vulnerabilities.

“The resident reported her vulnerabilities but there is no evidence the landlord took steps to review and make further enquiries about these, to consider any additional needs or appropriate variations in service delivery,” the ombudsman said.

Clarion said it had no vulnerabilities on record, according to the ombudsman’s report. 

Ms K was offered £1,507.97 in compensation over the delay in resolving the water issue, £975 for delays in resolving leaks and repairs, and £975 for delays in tackling the rodent infestation. She was also paid an additional £600 in recognition of the distress and inconvenience caused by Clarion’s complaint-handling. 

Specifically on the issue of damp, mould and pest infestation, the report said: “There is presenting evidence of service failure that may be indicative of a systemic failing. The ombudsman intends to conduct a further investigation beyond this initial complaint, to establish whether there is any evidence of systemic failings in the landlord’s handling of these issues.”

Areas for Clarion to “learn and improve” will be identified, the ombudsman said. 

A Clarion spokesperson said it was “disappointed” with the “public comments” about a wider investigation and will be writing privately to the ombudsman.

“Clarion is determined to continue to drive improvements in the service we provide all our residents,” the spokesperson added. 

On the latest case, the spokesperson said: “This was a complex and challenging case, which has concluded with the resident moving to a new Clarion home.

“We are disappointed by the judgement made by the ombudsman, as we don’t believe it reflects all of the support that our colleagues provided. This is particularly the case regarding the resident’s vulnerabilities; we have provided evidence that when alerted to these, they were taken into account.

“We fully accept that we were too slow to act in the early stages of this case, have apologised for this and conducted a full internal review into what went wrong.

“However, a number of issues were exacerbated by the resident refusing to grant Clarion staff access to the property over a period of time. Housing associations do not have the same power as private and local authority landlords to access homes and we’d like to see this changed, so the problem does not recur in the future.

“As an organisation, Clarion is determined to learn from every case. We will continue to work closely with the ombudsman and are reviewing our approach to pest control and how to account for specific vulnerabilities among our residents.”

Clarion last year apologised to tenants after ITV exposed squalid conditions on the Eastfields Estate in south London

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